Hyundai believes it can enjoy another record year for sales in the U.S. and will cut fleet sales to make it happen.
The South Korean car manufacturer sold a record 694,349 vehicles across North America last year, a significant 20 per cent increase over 2020 despite supply chain issues. Interestingly, Hyundai’s fleet sales fell by 24 per cent in 2021 as the company prioritized vehicles for dealerships.
“The plan is for growth,” chairman of the Hyundai National Dealer Council and owner of Alexandria Hyundai in Virginia, Kevin Reilly, said. “The plan is to add approximately 20 percent to production this year over last year and the dealers are very excited because they’ll have more product.”
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By sharply reducing fleet sales, Hyundai has been able to save as many of its vehicles as possible for dealers. When asked about the brand’s plans during a dealer meeting in Las Vegas, Hyundai sales chief Randy Parker revealed there will be a temporary moratorium on fleet sales.
“The question was about fleet, because dealers need inventory,” Reilly told Auto News when relaying what was said. “We need every single car we can get. And the message from Hyundai was that they are in agreement, with zero fleet for February, zero fleet for March and zero fleet for April.”
During the meeting, Hyundai also announced that it will push greater throughput by essentially freezing the dealer network at just over 800 retailers and helping to grow current dealers.
